Richard Katula Academic Achievement Award

The Richard Katula Academic Achievement Award honors a senior Communication Studies Major (including combined majors) for exceptional academic achievement. Scholarship is measured by grade point average, but also by demonstrated excellence in written or oral scholarship in the area of human communication.

About Professor Richard Katula

Professor Richard Katula came to Northeastern University in 1990 to chair the Communication Studies Department. An accomplished researcher and Fulbright Scholar, Katula was also a master teacher and patient mentor beloved by a generation of students. In addition to his popular courses on Classical Rhetoric, Public Speaking, and Argumentation and Debate, Katula led a popular Dialogue of Civilizations trip to Greece during the summer months. Through these expeditions, Katula introduced hundreds of students to Greece’s culture and rich history.

Katula earned a B.A. from Western Michigan University (1966), an M.A. from Northern Illinois University (1968), and a Ph.D. from the University of Illinois (1974). His first academic appointment was at the University of Rhode Island (1973-1987), where he rose from Instructor to Professor and Chair of the Speech Communication Department. Katula left URI to serve as Chair of the Communication Department at DePaul University (1987-1990). He returned to New England in 1990 to Chair of the Communication Studies Department at Northeastern University (1990-2013). After serving in this role for nearly a decade, he returned to the faculty as a professor. Throughout his career, Katula was active in faculty governance and he served on the Faculty Senate at both URI (where he also served as Senate Chair) and at Northeastern along with dozens of other different committees.

Among his many accomplishments, Katula is the author or co-author of scholarly books, dozens of book chapters and articles, and a long list of scholarly presentations. Katula is also the recipient of more than $1 million in federal grants. Eloquence was a consistent theme in his scholarship and he wrote about a diverse collection of public figures, ranging from Quintilian to Edward Everett to Richard Nixon. Among his many awards and honors, Katula received the Everett Lee Hunt Award from the Eastern Communication Association, a Fulbright Scholarship to Greece (twice), the Governors Medal for Citizenship (Rhode Island), and many accolades for his academic advising and teaching.

Past Recipients

2016
Samantha Wasserman

2015
Sonia Banaszczyk

2014
Elizabeth Sullivan

2013
Katie Adams

2012
Samantha Roach

2011
Emma Bloomfield

2010
Elizabeth Tashash

2009
Allison Stryker

2008
Alexandra Anweiler

2007
Lia Vallesio

2006
Christina Lepre

2005
Diana Dopfel

Eligibility

All senior Communication Studies majors are eligible to apply. To be considered, applicants must submit five items: